After being closed for around 10 years, Scooters Pizza has officially reopened in South Africa, and is once again looking to take the country by storm.
Scooters has been a South African staple since it opened its doors for the first time 25 years ago. In 2000, the Gonzaga family de-franchised their three pizza outlets in KwaZulu-Natal to form a new entity named Scooters Pizza.
After a few years in business, and extensive market analysis, the brand expanded to the Western Cape under Juan Engelbrecht, who was also the master franchisor.
The brand also expanded into Johannesburg, and by 2004, Scooters had grown to nearly 40 outlets. By 2010, the business had over 100 stores across the country.
The brand also won various FASA awards and became one of the fastest-growing fast food franchises in South Africa. By 2014, the business had expanded to 167 outlets with St Elmo’s Pizza. That year brought a major change to the business.
“In 2014, Taste Holdings signed a master agreement to roll out Domino’s across Southern Africa and invited Scooters and St Elmo’s franchisees to convert,” Scooters explained.
This strategic shift slowly retired the Scooters brand, which was liquidated in 2016 after stores were converted to Domino’s Pizza.
However, by 2019, Taste Holdings announced that it was exiting its food businesses, which also included Starbucks, Pizza Maxi’s and The Fish & Chips Co. to focus on its luxury brands, such as NWJ and Arthur Kaplan.
Following this decision, Taste proceeded to sell off its companies. Starbucks was sold to Rand Capital Coffee for R7 million.
Pizza Maxi’s and The Fish & Chips Co. were also sold off. Even though Taste engaged with numerous possible buyers, it never managed to sell Domino’s.
“When Domino’s SA couldn’t find a sustainable buyer, Taste liquidated the food business in March 2020 and around 55 Domino’s stores shut, with assets later auctioned,” Scooters explained.
Despite operations being closed for around 10 years, the business explained that “fans never stopped asking for Scooters”.
“In 2025, franchise veteran Juan Engelbrecht relaunched Scooters Pizza through 1st Choice Business Brokers & Franchising to bring the legend back – smarter, faster, and fairer for owners,” the company said.
The new Scooters officially opened in Melville, Johannesburg, on 21 October 2025. Already, the business is looking for franchisees to grow the Scooters footprint.
Customers can expect to find old classics, like Margarita, Pepperoni and Chicken Tikka pizzas. Scooters also offers a number of sides, desserts, calzones and specialty pizzas.
It also serves pizzas that feature local ingredients, such as Mrs Ball’s Chutney, biltong, babotie, chakalaka and boerewors.
Scooters offers pizza delivery services, which are managed completely in-house. To customers living within a 3 km radius, the business has a 39-minute delivery promise.
This promise guarantees that hot, fresh pizzas will be delivered in less than 40 minutes. If not, customers get their pizzas for free.
To lure new customers, Scooters is offering a range of specials. For example, its “39 minute eat as much as you can challenge” allows customers to eat as much as they want on Mondays within the specified time frame.
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